Don’t miss the top Warhammer 40k army lists featuring two T’au Empire lists and a Chaos Knight list from the Utah Cup ’25.
The Utah Cup ’25 is over, and now we can look at which 40k factions’ playstyles and army lists managed to secure a place at the top!
While the 40k meta may have been officially fixed, let’s check out what these winners brought in their armies, with our expert commentary on their selections.
Final Tournament Standings:
Studying these winning army lists for their tactical synergies can provide great insights for playing your army since the latest balance dataslate rules changes and points updates. If you want to elevate your game even further, consider applying to Team USA to compete at the World Team Championships each year!
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back at the event as if we were all there ourselves. Click this special promo link to save $20 on a year’s subscription to BCP.
1st Place: Durante “Glynisir” Bozzini, T’au Empire Army Lists
At the Utah Cup ‘25, one Tau Empire list turned the board into a live-fire training range, and the only lesson was never give them the first turn. This wasn’t a stealth op. This was a live broadcast from the Greater Good’s finest artillery showcase starring Commander Shadowsun and a whole lot of high-yield solutions.
Shadowsun herself led the charge, kitted out with fusion blasters, a missile pod, and no patience for subtlety.
On the ground, a Breacher Team rolled in with drone coverage and a point-blank punch. A Pathfinder Team lit up targets with markerlights to make sure nothing had a chance to dodge. Then came the Kroot Carnivores! They are cheap, scrappy, and just aggressive enough to sit on objectives.
Two units of Stealth Battlesuits kept things mobile and made the situation confusing. They showed up, blasted a hole in something, then faded away like gunmetal ghosts. Meanwhile, five Vespid Stingwings zipped around delivering neutron-blaster headaches to squishy targets trying to hide in corners.
Need more teeth? Enter the Krootox Riders. Not fast, not subtle, but packing repeater cannons and fists big enough to leave a dent in anything with a leadership stat.
The heavy hitters, though, were pure Tau signature. A Ghostkeel Battlesuit danced the mid-board with fusion and ion fire. Two Piranhas harassed flanks with fusion blasters and seeker missiles. Then, three Riptide Battlesuits stepped up, like walking war crimes, each sporting ion accelerators and missile pods.
Backing them? A Hammerhead Gunship with a railgun that doesn’t miss, and two Sky Ray Gunships that fired seeker missiles like they were going out of style. One Devilfish tagged along to cart the Breachers where they needed to ruin someone’s day.
2nd Place: Chase Chappell, Chaos Knights Army Lists
3rd Place: Michael Estrada, T’au Empire Army Lists
Final Thoughts From Us:
Turns out The Greater Good packs a serious punch, and Chaos Knights still bring enough firepower to make the warp proud. The Utah Cup ’25 was less about subtle tricks and more about throwing down hard and fast.
Whether it was triple Riptides clearing lanes or stompy mechs causing leadership problems, these top lists didn’t mess around.
Want to up your game? Take notes, tweak your loadouts, and maybe give the Kroot a second look. The meta might be wild right now, but these armies showed how to ride the storm straight to the podium.
See the Top Warhammer Army Lists & 40k Tournament Schedule for this year
What do you think of the results and top Utah Cup ’25 Warhammer 40k army lists for T’au Empire and Chaos Knights?
